CERAMIC SHIELDS FOR SATELLITE PROTECTION AGAINST HYPERVELOCITY IMPACT

A RESEARCH PROGRAM IS PROPOSED TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF PROTECTING COSTLY SPACECRAFT SYSTEMS FROM MAN-MADE ORBITING DEBRIS OR BY METEOROIDS AS WELL AS DEBRIS GENERATED BY HOSTILE ACTION. THE PROGRAM IS STRUCTURED TO BENEFIT FROM THE TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OF THE PROPOSAL TEAMS EXPERIENCE THAT INCLUDES AN EXTENSIVE DATABASE AND PREDICTION TECHNIQUES FOR HYPERVELOCITY PARTICLE IMPACTS. OPTIMUM CANDIDATE SPACECRAFT STAND-OFF SHIELD DESIGNS WILL BE IDENTIFIED BASED ON SYSTEM FIGURES OF MERIT. ALSO CRITICAL TECHNICAL ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH THESE CANDIDATE DESIGNS WILL BE IDENTIFIED. LIGHTWEIGHT CERAMIC BALLISTIC ARMOR (CARBIDE, NITRIDES, AND BORIDES) WILL BE INVESTIGATED THAT FEATURE FUNCTIONALLY GRADIENT COMPOSITES THAT CAN MITIGATE DEBRIS PENETRATION AS WELL AS ENHANCE DEBRIS SHATTERING. A PHASE I PROGRAM HAS BEEN STRUCTURED TO USE THE EXTENSIVE DATABASE GENERATED BY THE PROPOSAL TEAM (WHICH INCLUDES IMPACT DATA ON CERAMIC ALLOYS) TOGETHER WITH A HIGHER ORDER ENGINEERING LEVEL HYDRODYNAMIC CODE, IN ORDER TO PERFORM A DESIGN TRADE-OFF STUDY FOR WHIPPLE TYPE SHIELD FEATURING SINGLE OR MULTIPLE LAYERS AS WELL AS CORRUGATED DESIGNS. USE OF HYDRODYNAMIC CODES AND TESTING OF THE CANDIDATE STAND-OFF SHIELD DESIGN IN A HYPERVELOCITY IMPACT FACILITY WILL BE IDENTIFIED FOR A PHASE II PROGRAM. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS - THE PROPOSED EFFORT CAN PROVIDE THE DOD WITH A PREDICTION TOOL (AND METHODOLOGY) AND MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM TO PROTECT SPACECRAFT SYSTEMS FROM HYPERVELOCITY IMPACTS. THE TECHNOLOGY CAN BE TRANSFERRED TO A NUMBER OF IMPORTANT U.S. MILITARY SYSTEMS AS WELL AS INTERNATIONAL SPACE TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS. COMERCIALIZATION OF THE METHODOLOGY CAN BE EXTENDED TO THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET AS WELL AS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OF LIGHTWEIGHT STRUCTURES TO INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS.